Contemporary vehicles typically include a hood providing closure to an engine compartment. The hood can be moved between an open position to permit access to the engine compartment and a closed position against the vehicle body to close off access to the engine compartment. Generally, a hood latch retains the hood in the closed position, but can be unlatched to permit the hood to be moved to its open position.
One common type of hood latch assembly includes a primary latch for latching the hood in its closed position, a cable release operable from inside the vehicle to move the primary latch to an unlatched position, and a pop-up spring to move the hood to a partly open position where the hood is held by a secondary latch. The secondary latch is provided as a safety feature should the primary latch release unexpectedly so that the hood cannot fly open while the vehicle is being operated. The secondary latch is typically manually operated through access at the front of the vehicle to allow the hood to be unlatched from its partly open position and moved towards its open position.
However, some users object to having to feel around under a partly open hood for the secondary hood release since the area around the vehicle grill or under the hood is often a dirty and hot environment. Also, getting out of the passenger compartment to move to the front of the vehicle may be inconvenient or undesirable due to inclement weather.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved hood latch assembly for a vehicle. Also, it is desirable to provide an improved hood latch assembly for a vehicle that overcomes the determents of conventional hood latch assemblies. Additionally, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.